KLEIN, A.M. The Second Scroll. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, (1951). First Printing. "Published simultaneously in Canada by McClelland & Stewart Limited". Pp. (10),3-198,(2). 8vo, brown and white patterned boards, orange spine with white title block, brown lettering. "The book was composed, printed, and bound at The Plimpton Press, Norwood, Massachusetts. The typography and binding design are by Lucian Bernhard" - colophon. Watters p 322. See Spadoni & Donnelly 1581 with its note on this edition (under the heading of the 1961 NCL edition). "The genius of A.M. Klein, one of Canada's greatest poets, reached new heights in the literary power and dignified prose of The Second Scroll. This book is at once historic and contemporary. Covering the period of the pogroms of 1917 in Russia to 1949 when the infant state of Israel was one year old, the events parallel those of the first scroll in the days of Moses. Through Uncle Melech, 'in whose veins runs the numbered dead their plasma,' we experience the exile, exodus, and return to the Promised Land. This is exciting fiction, through which runs an intricate arabesque of shimmering threads, infinite in number, rich, symbolic - a deeply moving book of great significance and gigantic and universal proportions." - from the rear cover of the 1961 NCL edition. Owner's name, else very good in price-clipped dustjacket (with wear to the corners and spine ends, short tear). 35.00